The leaders of regional heavyweights, Iran and Saudi Arabia, agreed at talks in Riyadh to fight the growing Sunni-Shia strife, warning that it was the greatest danger facing the region. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he and Saudi King Abdullah agreed at their meeting on Saturday that their two countries would work together to thwart "enemy" plots seeking to divide the Islamic world.
"The two leaders affirmed that the greatest danger presently threatening the Islamic nation is the attempt to fuel the fire of strife between Sunnis and Shias, and that efforts must be concentrated on countering these attempts, and closing ranks," Saudi Arabia's official SPA news agency said.
The meeting was held against a backdrop of mounting fears that the sectarian bloodshed engulfing Iraq could spill over into the region. Saudi commentators saw Ahmadinejad's visit as a sign that the two countries are pooling efforts to ease explosive regional crises. SPA said the two leaders stressed the need to preserve Iraq's 'independence, national unity and equality between its citizens'.
It said that Ahmadinejad also endorsed Riyadh's efforts to resolve the political crisis in Lebanon, which has raised fears of a return to the communal bloodletting that tore the country apart in the 1975-1990 civil war.
Ahmadinejad's visit came at a time when his country is under intense Western pressure over its nuclear programme. Saudi Arabia champions a nuclear-free Middle East, but is also keen to avert a US-Iran military showdown which could destabilise the entire Gulf region. The Iranian leader had previously met King Abdullah at an Islamic summit in Mecca in December 2005, making this his first visit to the kingdom specifically for bilateral talks.
Ahmadinejad told reporters on his return to Tehran that he and King Abdullah discussed "plots carried out by the enemies in order to divide the world of Islam."
"Fortunately, we and the Saudis were fully aware of the threats of our enemies, and we condemned them," he said. He did not specify who the enemies were. Iran's chief Western foe, the United States, is one of Riyadh's closest allies.
Lebanon has also severely tested ties between predominantly Iran and Saudi Arabia, which provides substantial financial aid to Beirut and has close links with the Western-backed government of Sunni Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
The anti-Syrian government has been crippled by an opposition ministerial walkout and an open-ended protest spearheaded by the Iranian-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah. But Riyadh and Tehran recently began working together to reduce tensions in Lebanon and, according to the Saudi account of the talks, Ahmadinejad said Iran was "assisting the kingdom's efforts" to calm the situation and end the crisis.
The two leaders expressed hope that "all Lebanese sides will respond to these efforts," SPA said.
It said that Ahmadinejad also "voiced support for the Arab peace initiative", endorsed at an Arab summit in 2002, although Ahmadinejad's office on Sunday denied any such discussion had taken place.
"In the meeting of President Ahmadinejad with King Abdullah there was absolutely no talk about the 2002 initiative," Ehsan Jahandidieh of the presidential press office told AFP in Tehran.
Under the Saudi-authored plan, the Arab world would normalise ties with Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal from Arab land occupied since 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
However, Ahmadinejad has said repeatedly that Israel should be "wiped from the map" and predicted that the Jewish state is doomed to disappear.
Ties with Israel: Meanwhile, the office of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday vehemently denied a report he had backed an Arab plan for normalising ties with Israel on his visit to the kingdom.
The official SPA agency said on Saturday that Ahmadinejad had "voiced support for the Arab peace initiative" endorsed at an Arab summit in 2002, in his talks with Saudi King Abdullah.
"In the meeting of President Ahmadinejad with King Abdullah there was absolutely no talk about the 2002 initiative," Ehsan Jahandidieh of the presidential press office told AFP.
Under the Saudi-authored plan, the Arab world would normalise ties with Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal from Arab land occupied since 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state. However Iranian leaders have repeatedly vowed that the Islamic republic will never under any circumstances recognise Israel, with which it has no relations.
Ahmadinejad has said that Israel should be "wiped from the map" and predicted that the Jewish state is doomed to disappear.